Pas de Deux
by Holdontohope
Summary: Brittany is a guest artist to an Ohio ballet company, where Santana works. When the two meet, what will happen? This story is told through Brittany's eyes.
1. Chapter 1

Pas de deux

***I am going by what I remember from ballet as a kid, and google. So please excuse any errors. Also I am not naming the ballet companies, as I don't feel it is right to borrow names from existing companies. I got this idea after attending a performance of the Nutcracker this past weekend. Enjoy!

Brittany Pierce stretched her legs as she got off the plane, at her destination of Cleveland, Ohio. She was a principal ballerina with a company in New York City, and this was her first year to be featured as a guest artist. She was thrilled to have been asked to play the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy—it was a dream come true.

She pulled her phone out of her purse, and looked in her email for the name of the person picking her up. Santana Lopez, Assistant to the Artistic Director. Brittany put her phone away, and entertained the idea of stopping to change in a bathroom. She was dressed comfortably for traveling, in grey sweatpants, a black sweater and a pink scarf. She decided she liked like a ballerina, and decided to keep her outfit on.

As she approached the baggage claim, she looked around for someone holding a sign with her name. This was definitely not New York-she didn't see anyone holding any signs. She shrugged and continued to walk towards Carousel A which said "New York City-La Guardia" above it.

"Miss Pierce?" Brittany turned around and was struck silent by the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.

A petite Latina was standing in front of her, in a simple black dress that flattered her curves. She wore pearls and ballet flats, and an elegant red pea-coat. Her shoulder length hair was straightened and held back on one side with a simple black clip.

"Are you Miss Pierce?" Santana asked again, smiling gently at Brittany. Brittany gaped again, but managed to nod her head yes.

"Please call me Brittany." She was finally able to find words. She suddenly wished she had changed after all.

"Welcome to Cleveland! We are so glad you accepted our invitation to come. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help make your stay comfortable."

"Thank you, Ms. Lopez, I appreciate it."

"Please, call me Santana. Or you can call me San, which is what the children at the studio call me."

"San. I like that. Some little girls call me Britt-Britt, I answer to that as well. Not saying you are a little girl, you are a very beautiful woman actually-" Brittany cut herself off as she realized what she was saying, and blushed deeply. 

Santana chuckled and Brittany thought it was the most beautiful sound in the world.

"Well you are quite easy on the eyes yourself, Britt-Britt." Santana replied with a bit of a playful smirk.

Brittany blushed again, and turned around to watch for her bags. They were just about to her, and she pulled them off the carousel.

"Here, let me take one." Santana offered, and Brittany handed her a bag, smiling shyly at her.

Brittany turned back around to get her remaining bag, and as she turned back around, she caught the edge of her shoe on the wheel of her suitcase, and fell smack on her back.

"Oh my goodness, Brittany are you ok?" Santana hurried over to her, kneeling down beside her. "Did you hit your head very hard?"

Brittany was mesmerized by Santana's brown eyes, currently etched with concern.

"I'm ok, I think. Maybe just a bit embarrassed…" Brittany admitted.

"This is Cleveland, there is all of one other person here, and it's an old guy reading the sports section of the paper…or is he asleep?" Santana pondered, looking over her shoulder.

And in the blink of an eye, Brittany Pierce found herself, literally falling in love.

**There is much more to come!


	2. Chapter 2

Santana had driven Brittany, per her request, straight to the dance studio to meet everyone.

Brittany walked into the studio, taking in her surroundings. It had a lobby, two studio rooms, dressing rooms and an office. It wasn't massive, but it was obviously well-kept, and served its purpose.

A blonde with a pixie type hair-cut came out of the office and offered her hand to Brittany, to shake.

"Hello, I'm Quinn Fabray, artistic director. Thank you so much for coming, everyone is so excited. Please let myself or my assistant know if there is anything you need."

"Thank you, Ms. Fabray. Ms. Lopez has already been very welcoming and helpful." Brittany replied.

"Please, call me Quinn. Even though we have high standards here, we prefer first names, even the children call me Quinn."

"That is great, I am sure the children love that." Brittany said smiling.

"Speaking of children, I do have to prepare for a rehearsal we are having—we are running through the party scene one last time, followed by snow. Santana can take you to your hotel to rest, if you'd like." Quinn instructed.

"Would it be ok to stay? I would like to find some space to stretch out and do some light work—I am pretty tight from flying. I'd also love to watch a bit of the rehearsals." Brittany responded.

"Of course, Santana can show you around and help you with anything you might need." Quinn began, but was interrupted by a child's excited voice.

"Mommy, Mommy!" A small brunette child ran inside and flung herself at Quinn's legs.

"Please excuse this little munchkin's wild antics. This is my six year old daughter, Regan." Quinn said and the little girl looked at Brittany and beamed.

"Is that the princess?" she asked, and the adults giggled.

"Close, it's the Sugar Plum Fairy, kiddo." Santana said.

"Auntie Tana! I didn't even see you," Regan said and embraced her.

"Heya, where did you come from, by the way, did you run here?" Santana asked.

"Regan Barbara Berry-Fabray, where are you?" a frantic voice came through the doorway.

"I'm here Mama!" Regan said.

"Darling, remember what I said about waiting for mama-" a petite brunette said coming around the corner, and stopped, realizing there was a visitor. "Oh my word, I am so sorry to interrupt. You must be Ms. Pierce!" the brunette said, looking embarrassed.

"It's fine, Rachel. Brittany, this is my wife Rachel." Quinn said, as Rachel shook Brittany's hand. "I know we aren't quite a traditional family, I hope that does not bother you."

"I live in New York—totally not bothered at all." Brittany replied, and caught Santana's eye, and Santana blushed.

"Well, I have to get ready for rehersals. And now that my favorite little assistant is here, I better get going. " Quinn said, taking Ragan's hand.

"It was nice to meet you Brittany!" Rachel said following Quinn.

"You as well."

Brittany found herself staring after the happy little family.

"They are pretty great, those three. It hasn't always been easy in Ohio, but we have a great group of families at the ballet school. We even have a few other kids with same-sex parents, it's nice for them to have someone to relate to, and not be judged by." Santana said.

"That is so great, kids really do need spaces to feel accepted and loved." Brittany said. "Now can you please help me find a place to stretch, my legs are killing me."

"Right this way, we have another studio. I'm afraid our accompanist will be at rehearsals-Quinn insists on piano versus CD. You will have to make due with CD in our other studio for tonight, I'm afraid."

"Totally fine, I just need something light, Mozart perhaps."

"We have plenty of that. Do you need help stretching out? I sometimes help the teens and adults stretch out—I have taken some physical therapy classes just for that purpose." Santana offered.

"That would be great-we have people in NYC that help us with that, so it would be very helpful, if you have time."

"You are my #1 priority while you are here, so anything else can just wait." Santana said and Brittany laughed.

"#1 huh? So what if I told you I needed blue M & M's only in my dressing room?" Brittany said teasingly.

"Well, I'd pick the blue ones out for you and feed the rest to Regan." Santana said and the two laughed.

As Brittany entered the studio, Santana cued up some music and Brittany lay down on the floor, doing some full body stretches.

Santana came over and they went through various stretches. After a few moves, Brittany started feeling better already.

Santana lifted her right leg up, and slowly stretched it towards Brittany's head. Brittany groaned with appreciation and Santana blushed.

"You don't like my groans?" Brittany asked, teasingly.

"Your groans are fine—I mean, um..." Santana said, gaping for words.

"Relax; I'm just messing with you, San." Brittany said and reached out and grasped Santana's hand. Santana's eyes flickered up to Brittany's, and the two held each other's gaze, until Santana gently put Brittany's leg down, and moved to the other one.

Brittany grimaced and said "I'm so tight." Santana blushed again, without fail, and Brittany giggled.

"You are so bad, Britt." Santana said rolling her eyes.

"Sorry, I can't help myself. Not when…"Brittany trailed off.

"When what?" Santana questioned.

"Not when the person who gets to help me this week, is so damn beautiful." Brittany said and she hard Santana's breathing hitch. Santana gently put Brittany's leg down and walked over to the CD player, to change the music.

"I'm going to let you finish up in here, I think I better call the hotel and verify everything is in order for your arrival." Santana said, avoiding Brittany's eyes.

Brittany sat up, confused to as to what had happened. "San, wait. I'm sorry if I said something that offended you."

Santana stopped in the doorway, and turned back to meet Brittany's gaze.

"It's not what you said. I just…we can't go down this path. I'm sorry, I just can't jeopardize this for either of us." Santana said quietly and she turned to walk out of the room.

Brittany lay back down on the floor and sighed. She had hardly been here two hours, and it was already complicatd.


	3. Chapter 3

Anyone still reading? Trying to decide if I should continue or focus on my other stories.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 3

Brittany had finished loosening up her muscles and went wandering around the studio. She peeked in on the rehearsal that Quinn was conducting, and was impressed with how well the children in the party scene were performing their roles. She knew children could be difficult, but it appeared Quinn had everything under control.

She noticed Rachel was sitting in a corner, writing furiously in a notebook, as Regan adoringly watched the dancers. She was hoping she could spot Santana, but was disappointed she did not see her.

She wandered a bit more and found the office, and the door was cracked open, and she knocked.

"Come in." she heard Santana say. Brittany entered, and saw Santana typing away on a computer, biting her lip and muttering to herself. Brittany giggled at the sight, and Santana glanced up and gave a soft smile.

"Hey. I'm sorry about that in there, I was trying to be professional, but I could have handled it better." Santana said.

"It's my fault, I shouldn't have been flirting so outright, I'm sorry—I'm usually never like that." Brittany admitted.

"It must have been the long flight and the excitement of getting to be in our exciting Nutcracker." Santana said, laughing softly.

Brittany was silent, and wasn't sure what to say next. On one hand, she wanted to be a professional about this job; on the other hand she didn't want to ignore the obvious chemistry.

"Can I ask you one small favor, and then I will let you get back to work?" Brittany asked.

"Of course, I am here to assist you this week." Santana said formally.

"Maybe I'm crazy—but when I'm around you, my head becomes foggy and I can't breathe. I know you don't want to ruin this professional opportunity, but as a dancer I know my career only lasts so long, and that can't be my only goal in life." Brittany said softly and turned and left the room, leaving Santana gaping.

Santana leaned slowly back in her chair as Brittany left the room. Were those actual tears in her eyes? No, it couldn't be. She hadn't shed a tear for years. How could someone just waltz in—scratch that, grand jete in here and throw her off her game, her plan to stay focused and never get emotionally involved with anyone. She buried her face in her hands and let herself sob.

This was exactly how Quinn found her, during a rehearsal break. Quinn froze in the door for a second, and then closed the door behind her and slowly walked over to Santana.

"Are you ok? Is someone hurt?" Quinn said, kneeling down beside her friend and employee.

"No, it's…oh…I forgot what it is like to feel something, and now I feel all these things and it is scaring the shit out of me." Santana sobbed.

Quinn raised her eyebrows. Santana was an excellent employee because of her calculated interactions, her professional demeanor and attention to detail. As a friend, she often worried that Santana was lonely and had put up walls. During the 5 years that they had known each other, Santana had never dated anyone, or spoken of anyone from the present or past. She was shut off and distant.

"Who?"

"Promise you won't get mad?"

"I promise." Quinn said, and waited curiously for Santana's answer.

"Brittany. She makes me forget how to breathe, yet at the same time I can't seem to get enough of the positive vibes she sends out to everyone…." Santana says, trailing off to gauge Quinn's reaction.

"I wondered if that was a little spark I saw a while ago." Quinn said squeezing Santana's hand.

"You aren't mad? I know it's not the best to mix business with personal."

Quinn scoffed. "Santana, my wife is out in rehearsals taking intense notes on how my ballerina's can improve their acting. Life is not as compartmentalized as you think it is."

"She lives in New York, it would be crazy to start anything."

"If you feel a spark, it would be crazy not to." Quinn pointed out. "I'm not going to tell you what to do, but maybe it's time you let someone in past that barbed wire fence and accompanying moat you put up. You have the successful part done, now I just want you to be happy." Quinn said standing up.

"Thank you, Q." Santana said softly.

"Now, I have a rehearsal to run. I believe you have a girl to ask out to dinner." Quinn said as she left Santana alone with her thoughts.

Santana suddenly started to panic, she hadn't been on a date in…well, forever. If Brittany said yes, where would she take her? What would they do? Would it be awkward? Santana quickly turned to the computer and entered some key words into the search engine, and grinned as she found what she was looking for.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 4

_I did a bit of googling this chapter to find them a spot to go to!_

Santana checked her reflection in her rearview mirror before going inside the hotel to pick up Brittany. She had of course said yes, to Santana's offer of dinner and she had dropped Brittany off at the hotel to freshen up, before going home to change. She had put on a simple red dress that accentuated her curves. She had decided to wear some tall, black heels to put her closer to Brittany's height. She had done messy curls in her hair, to make herself not seem too formal.

She knocked nervously on Brittany's door, and was left speechless when the door entered.

Brittany was wearing a pale blue dress that fell to her knees, and had a v-neck that showed her cleavage. She was wearing silver flats and her hair was up in a twisty bun.

"You look amazing." Santana finally said and shyly handed her a bouquet of roses.

"Thank you—you look stunning. Please come in, while I put these in water." Brittany said and bustled around her suite to find a tall glass.

Once the flowers were in water, there was a pause as they both weren't sure what to say next.

"Are you ready to head to dinner?" Santana asked and Brittany nodded and went and got her coat, and Santana assisted her in putting it on.

They walked down to Santana's car and drove a few blocks. Brittany peered out the window. "Lola. Sounds fun!" She said smiling at Santana.

"I have only been here once before, but it is amazing. You don't have any allergies or special dietary needs besides being a healthy dancer, right?" Santana asked and Brittany laughed.

"I am sometimes not so good at being a healthy dancer, but no allergies." The two smiled at each other, and Santana got out and went to the other side to help Brittany out, and they walked arm and arm into the restaurant.

"Lopez, table for two." Santana announced to the hostess, and they were ushered to a table. Brittany thought the place was elegant and she loved the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Brittany noticed that the hostess only gave them one menu.

"I hope you don't mind if I order for you?" Santana asked shyly. Brittany felt a tingle of excitement—no one had ever taken charge of a date like this with her before, and she found it totally sexy.

"I totally don't mind you being in control." Brittany said, realizing how it sounded after she said it, but Santana just blushed.

When the waiter came, Santana prattled off a list of requests. "For an appetizer, we would like the oysters. For entrée's, I would like the Alaskan Halibut, and this lovely lady will have the Wild Pacific Salmon. Can we also get the wines please?" Santana said and the waiter nodded.

Santana turned to Brittany. "I hope all of that sounds ok to you."

"I adore seafood—and salmon is my favorite." Brittany said smiling widely, and gently nudged Santana's foot under the table, just to make Santana blush.

Later, as they were finishing wine their pleasant dinner conversation was slowly winding down.

"I am more stuffed than a turkey on Thanksgiving." Santana said, making Brittany giggle.

"That was amazing—thank you so much for a lovely dinner."

"You are welcome. I didn't want to keep you out too late, as I know you have a busy few days ahead of you." Santana said.

"Would you like to come to my suite for a nightcap? My room has a pretty sweet bar." Brittany offered, not wanting the evening to end.

"Sure. Santana said smiling, and they made their way to the car.

They sat on the sofa in Brittany's room, and continued chatting about their respective jobs and hobbies. They discovered they both loved to read and watch indie films.

Brittany felt herself getting more relaxed, and she tentatively stretched a leg across Santana's lap.

"Are you looking for a foot rub?" Santana asked raising an eyebrow.

"Nah, just a little more physical contact." Brittany said, her eyes twinkling.

They sat that way silently for a few minutes, and then Santana sat her drink down and gingerly lifted Brittany's leg up and scooted over until she was right next to Brittany, and gently squeezed her hand.

"How is this for contact?" Santana asked, her warm breath hitting Brittany's ear, leaving goosebumps behind. Brittany sat her drink down, and turned to face Santana and captured her lips with her own lips. Santana slid her tounge across Brittany's bottom lip asking for entrance, and Brittany granted it, as their kiss deepened.

After a few minutes of kissing, and some gentle moans, the two pulled apart reluctantly and caught their breaths while resting their foreheads together.

"Damn." Santana said. "I have never had a kiss quite like that."

"Me either." Brittany murmured. After a few minutes of sitting quietly, Santana reluctantly looked at the clock.

"I should go—it's getting late and we both need our rest." Santana said, and Brittany nodded but not without pouting her lower lip a bit, which Santana found adorable, and gently kissed it.

"I had so much fun tonight, it was perfect first date." Brittany said.

"You are the perfect first date." Santana said, as Brittany walked her to the door.

"Good-night, sweet dreams."

"Sleep well, beautiful." Santana said, giving her one more gentle kiss before departing. As she walked to her car, she couldn't help but skip a few steps, with giddiness. Meanwhile, a few stories above her, a blonde was still standing with her back pressed to the door, a huge grin on her face.


End file.
